Do I Need Antivirus?

If you have a Windows PC, the answer is YES. And the same could be true if you're not too tech-savvy and own an Android device...

Do I need antivirus

Even though modern operating systems are better than their predecessors, every now and then we see a new virus or trojan infiltrating systems around the world. Heck, the number of different malware has grown exponentially in the last few years with no signs of slowing down. Quite the contrary.

So our answer is…

YES – you need an antivirus and this is especially true for Windows PCs. Although it became much better in recent years, Windows OS — now in version 11 — is still the prime target of virus makers.

The situation is similar with Android devices, which too are often targeted by malware developers. Android’s open “nature” lets everyone see its source code, even those who may not want to use this knowledge for good.

In addition, everyone can submit an app to Google’s Play Store, with only algorithms being responsible for scanning the code. This could potentially pave the way for savvy hackers to trick their way into the Android ecosystem by delivering the malicious code in the further update to the app. Plus, let’s not forget that Android users can bypass the Play Store and sideload an app they want. This is probably one of the key ways malware gets installed on so many devices.

In sharp contrast, we have Apple which operates a closed system that has its downsides but it makes sure only (or mostly) apps that don’t harm users end up in the App Store. This is arguably the reason why so few Mac, iPhone and iPad owners have an antivirus on their devices.

How an antivirus works

Generally speaking, an antivirus program works by maintaining a list with definitions of all known viruses. The problem is that these days there are way more viruses than it’s even possible to list.

In 2014, there were 37 million known viruses and just a year later there were 64 million. For those who count, that’s an increase of over 70,000 per day.

This vast number of viruses means that many of these programs are sort of mutations and not entirely new viruses. For this reason, antivirus programs also monitor the behavior of software in general to detect when something’s wrong.

However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate the behavior of a legitimate application from an illegitimate one, as no programming functions can be uniquely attributed to viruses. As a result, antivirus programs either tend to miss threats or detect false positives.

Better viruses make for better systems

As we have noted above, modern operating systems are better than their predecessors in many ways. For instance, they are built with polymorphic viruses in mind, providing users with an option to allow only certain apps to access key device resources.

But, again, the problem is that the large number of threats has made it difficult for users to distinguish between legit apps and, for instance, their fake counterparts. Adding to this is the fact that many websites today want to send you notifications, and you quickly become annoyed in denying everyone to contact you — even though you may want to give the permission to select apps and sites.

This again, leaves room for hackers to trick you into accepting some alert or allowing their app to access some key resources of your device.

How to keep your device safe?

There are a two key things everyone should do:

1. Keep your apps and system up to date
Common sense is not always common practice. But, since you’re reading this, you’re better than that. So make sure all your apps and your operating system is up to date. You don’t have to wait to be notified about the availability of the new version – rather, you can manually check for updates and get the latest app versions as soon as they’re released. This way, you get to protect your device(s) from any security flaws the earlier version of the app may have had.

2. Perform regular backups
Even though you keep your software up to date, something could go wrong and your data may be in jeopardy. It’s not only a hack that could cause this — your hard drive (or SSD) may stop working. Then what? If you have a recent backup, you should be able to relatively quickly get back on track. So make sure that you perform backups on a regular basis. Being prepared is what we’re all about.

3. Get a VPN
While a VPN won’t protect you against viruses, it will make sure that everything that you do on the Internet is conducted in a secure manner. A VPN does that by encrypting your communication, making it virtually impossible for anyone to break it. And even if they manage to get some piece of data traveling between your device and the rest of the Internet, he/she wouldn’t be able to do much with it — the encrypted data is all gibberish. This way, you will even be able to securely use the Internet in (notoriously insecure) public Wi-Fi hotspots. A VPN will have your back.

The bottom line

You can hardly lose by using an antivirus. As far as we see things, it is another tool in your security arsenal — the other one being a VPN. With these two running on your devices, you may get a better night’s sleep knowing that there is some fancy piece of software doing the hard work in the background to protect you. Although there are other factors to consider, like sharing too much on social media, we’ll leave that for another article. For the time being, get yourself an antivirus and find a VPN for yourself as soon as you can.